I know to some that seems like an musical oxymoron. Because, its pretty common knowledge that Elvis Presley was not a hippie nor did he play psychedelic hippie music. But, someone did and he sounds like Elvis (or at least to this author). That someone is Father Yod (pronounced yoad like road). I came to this conclusion by reviewing some musical clips from his 1970's band Ya Ho Wa 13. His cadence was very Elvis-ish along with improvisational jams, riffs and non-structured ethereal music from the band. (The clips I sampled are here: Amazon - MP3 Music - Yahowa 13)

The Source Family (film opening in May)

James Baker (Father Yod), however, was much more than a singer in a rock 'n roll band. The big story here is (in May) the national theatrical release of a "The Source Family". This documentary is about an ex-WWII marine, stunt man, health food restaurant owner (The Source) who became guru to his own spiritual Hollywood hippie commune.

Father Yod

The story would start after James Baker's (Father Yod) stint in the US Marines. He would then move to California and try his hand at being a stunt man for an abbreviated time. Then he would hook up with the Nature Boys, a group of LA beatniks into vegetarian diet and natural life style. At this point, Baker will now throw himself into esoteric studies of spiritual healing, philosophy, religion and yoga. He was a disciple of Yogi Bhajan and a Vedantic monk for a while.

Baker would own a few restaurants (The Aware Inn & The Old World) but his next would be the first organic health food restaurant and he'd call it "The Source". After leaving Yogi Bhajan - he would create his own philosophy, start a commune in the Hollywood Hills of Laurel Canyon and change his name to Father Yod.

Life In the Hollywood Hills

"The Source" restaurant (on Sunset Boulevard) fared very well. With clients like John Lennon, Marlon Brando and Frank Zappa, it was the cool place to be. It would produce up to $10,000 a day in its peak years. Father Yod would recruit members into the commune via the restaurant. Ninety or more followers would reside in his Hollywood mansion and become The Source Family. (Including his 14 wives!)

Here they would practice his style of "western mystery tradition" of religion among many other activities. One of those activities would be creating rock music in his recording studio. I think his intention was not to produce psychedelic hippie music, but rather to improvise and let the music flow naturally. The music came from within them being sent down a creative path driven by their spiritual beliefs. It is, however, revered and coveted as some of the most original and psychedelic rock of the era.